Flood relief and rehabilitation to be on 'war footing' in Assam: Gogoi

In view of the deteriorating flood situation in Assam, chief minister Tarun Gogoi today directed the revenue and disaster management department to rescue the marooned people and to gear up relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected people on a war-footing.

Around 2.87 lakh people have been affected covering 1,066 villages due to floods in Assam this year.

Around 90,867 hectare of cropland has been affected. Seven persons have died in the current wave of flood viz., one each in Lakhimpur, Dhubri, Nalbari, Golaghat and Barpeta and two in Morigaon.

Nearly 2,424 affected people have been evacuated and moved to safer places and 118 relief camps have been opened providing shelter to 95,922 inmates.Altogether 15 districts - Dhemaji, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Sivsagar, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Kamrup, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong have been affected by the current wave of flood. The flood situation has improved in Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong districts.

Gogoi today directed chief secretary Jitesh Khosla and additional chief secretary, revenue and disaster management, Subhash Chandra Das, to take all possible measures to rescue the marooned people and to step up relief and rehabilitation measures.

Gogoi asked the officials to be in constant touch with the administration of the flood hit districts to provide succour to the affected.

The chief minister asked them to monitor the supply of gratuity relief, medicine and other items to the flood hit people.Gogoi also directed the water resources department to take up immediate anti-erosion measures especially in the breached embankments.